Grand Architect + Pila-Pala = infinite mana combo.
One could build around this deck idea for the near future release of potentially more cards that will work well with these 2 pieces in Mirrodin Beseiged and the 3rd set in Scars block.

While Thoughtseize and Duress is floating all around in Faeries, no one has yet utilized Memoricide, so the metagame is rip for the pickings of a 2 card combo if built right and with a metagame unexpected for it. Once Faeries gets hated out (if it does), this sort of combo deck might be more viable.

I was looking for and trying to build decks based around Ratchet Bomb, but it definitely doesn’t compare to Pernicious Deed or Engineered Explosives. I guess I’ll have to stick to Landstill decks in Legacy for that stone cold nuts action.

About that Pili-Pala/Grand Architect deck: there was a guy who went 3-0 in the MTGO PTQ on 1/2/11 that was running a similar deck, but he added green for Fauna Shamans and his kill condition appeared to be Spikeshot Elder. Makes a lot of sense to me, as doing that allows you to tutor for all the parts of your combo instead of hoping to draw them. The player in the PTQ did then proceed to lose the next several rounds, ending at 3-3, I believe, before he dropped.

Frankly Im happy with the changes to Extended due to the fact that my play group hasnt been playing all that long and dont have a lot of the older cards. The Lorwyn forward though means that they are more able to play without a lot of additional monetary investment.

The mana base is kind of an abomination at this point. At first glance I think i may be cutting white, but I like the idea of abusing Reviellark and Sun Titan to bring back Anathamancer (Obscene amount of nonbasics being played) and the Fulminator Mages (who doesnt like LD).

Personally, I really like the new Extended format. I re-started playing Magic about a year and a half ago, so I like the fact that I can actually be competitive without having to spend tons of money on cards that I don’t have. I see others’ points about the format being just a glorified standard and in a couple of years, I might find that I don’t like it as much for that reason. For now, though, I think it’s great.

This decklist was originally inspired by an article on the mothership, but has taken on a life of its own. Check out more on the deck on MTGSalvation: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=278898. the idea is to lock the game down with Myr Battlesphere or some such, using Forgemaster and Transmuter to find and play the big guys. The deck has good game against aggro builds and a reasonable matchup against control builds. The only deck I’ve played that gives me problems is Wargate.

I heard about taking a Blightning aggro deck to an extended tournament because it seems to do pretty well against Faeries and 4CC. I played it in standard and thought I would give it a try at a Grand Prix Trial. This is the list I was going to put together: